


a mic instead of a sword

by OceannanotOceania



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Music, CEO!Taekwoon, M/M, soundcloud rapper!Wonshik
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-03-05 22:54:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13398009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OceannanotOceania/pseuds/OceannanotOceania
Summary: Kim Wonsik is an underground rapper working at a record store and barely able to stay afloat. Things begin to change after a proposition from Jung Taekwoon, CEO to Jellyfish Entertainment, and known as "lord of the indie music industry".





	1. Wonsik

**Author's Note:**

> God will I ever be good at summaries. No but anyways, I hope y'all enjoy this! I've been working on this for a while but I was hesitant to post just because I have so many WIPs already, but I decided that it'd be worth giving this to y'all. ^^;
> 
> Also, many thanks to [tinyhakyeon](http://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyhakyeon/pseuds/tinyhakyeon) for betaing this a little last minute for me !! She's truly an angel that writes gems pls check her out if you have time. :O

“What do you mean this is no good?” Wonsik asked.

“I’m sorry, but this just doesn’t fit the sound of our company,” the director replied.

“Aren’t you a hip-hop label?” Wonsik said. “How does this not fit your ‘sound’?”

The producer paused, flashing a frown. “We don’t accept inexperienced artists.”

Wonsik raised an eyebrow. “And you couldn’t say that before I showed you my music?”

“You said you’d produced in the past, so it was assumed-”

“Well I have produced in the past,” Wonsik said. “I just haven’t ever been published under a record label.”

The producer sighed. “And I’m sorry Mr. Kim, but we can’t publish you if-”

Wonsik groaned, rolling his eyes. “Yes, I’m well aware of your policies now.” He slammed his laptop, cringing slightly at the thud it made, before shoving it into his bag and getting up out of the chair. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Jung, but I’ll be leaving now.”

Wonsik left the room before the producer was able to speak again, slamming the door loudly and practically stomping his way through the studio. He only stopped when he’d made it about a block away from the company building, leaning against a nearby building and letting out a loud groan as he slid to the floor.

God. What was that, the fourth company that’d rejected him? He’d never be signed to a label at this rate.

Wonsik thought back to Hongbin’s idea of Wonsik starting his own label. There’s no way it could work, though; his recording equipment was subpar, and paying to borrow equipment is too far out of his price range. Hell, he was lucky to have the equipment he had now, though it was primarily pirated software that was a few years out of date.

He let out a breath, pulling out his phone and glancing at the time. His eyes widened. Shit, he had work in half an hour; the meeting had taken a bit longer than anticipated. Wonsik stood up immediately, eyes flickering around the area, eventually seeing the bus stop another block away from him. He grabbed his bag a little tighter, running straight over to the stop, praying that there’d be enough time to get to work.

~

Wonsik was still panting as he ducked into the record store, feeling sweat dripping down the side of his face.

“Late again?” Hongbin asked, standing behind the counter.

“S-Sorry,” Wonsik panted. “I, I caught the wrong bus so it took me awhile to get back in the right direction.”

Hongbin chuckled. “Of course you did. Well, go ahead and clock in, I won’t take too much from your pay.”

Wonsik flashed a smile at Hongbin, nodding in thanks before he ducked into the employee’s lounge. Hongbin had always been a lax manager, at least for Wonsik; maybe it’s because Hongbin admired Wonsik’s production skills. Well, that and the fact that Wonsik allowed Hongbin to feature on a few songs.

The man walked back into the main part of the record store, going back behind the counter. He held out a CD, the case transparent on one side.

Hongbin glanced down. “A new song?”

“A few more, yeah,” Wonsik said. “Is it okay for me to play it?”

“Am I in one of the songs?” Hongbin asked.

Wonsik nodded.

“Then of course.”

Wonsik rolled his eyes, going behind Hongbin to switch out the CD currently playing for his own EP. The first song had some static behind it for a few seconds, becoming extremely subtle background noise as the song formally started. Hongbin nodded his head, hand on his chin. He looked up to Wonsik.

“It sounds nice,” Hongbin said. “A bit more rough than normal, but it works.”

“Thanks,” Wonsik said. “I showed this to Mr. Jung.”

“Really?”

Wonsik nodded.

“Hm,” Hongbin said. “Did you have other songs you showed him?”

“Yeah, I showed him Rebirth too.” 

“Good,” Hongbin said. “One of my favorite songs, even if I’m not in it.”

Wonsik chuckled, rolling his eyes. “Thanks.”

“Speaking of,” Hongbin said. “Do you have good news for me?”

Wonsik’s expression shifted to one of anger, the man rolling his eyes again. “No, I do not.”

Hongbin frowned. “Oh. What happened?”

“He said that they ‘don’t accept inexperienced artists’,” Wonsik said. “In short, me never being signed anywhere else in the past made me too inexperienced.”

Hongbin groaned. “Fucking SanE.” He flashed a sad expression. “I’m sorry, Wonsik.”

“It’s fine,” Wonsik replied. “Though, things are kind of bad now. I really am running out of companies to try and audition with.”

“Besides the Big Three?”

“You know exactly why I’m not going to any of those,” Wonsik said. “I’m-”

“Yes, yes, you’re not an idol,” Hongbin cut in. “I’ve heard that so many times.” He paused. “Listen, have you considered what I’ve recommended in the past?”

Wonsik sighed. “I just think it’ll be so much harder to get recognition if I do my own label. My equipment sucks, and we know how little attention my Soundcloud’s gotten.”

Hongbin frowned. “Well listen, if you ever save up enough money, think about it a bit harder, yeah?”

Wonsik nods, Hongbin flashing a smile in reply.

“Otherwise, you might want to consider-”

The thought is cut off when the bell above the store’s front door rings. Hongbin glanced down to the computer screen for the register, quirking an eyebrow.

“Strange time to get a customer,” Hongbin mumbled. He shook his head, looking back to the raven-haired customer. “Hello, sir! Do you need help browsing?”

The customer moved closer to the counter, feline eyes squinting.

“What labels do you keep here?”

“Um.” Hongbin looked over to Wonsik. The man rolled his eyes.

“It’s almost exclusively indie labels,” Wonsik said. “Well, we just try to avoid keeping anyone from the Big Three in here, though people will request smaller artists from them at times.”

The customer nodded slowly. “Who’s most common here?”

“Um.” Wonsik’s face scrunched in concentration. “Brand New, Brave Sound, Just Music-”

“Those aren’t very indie,” the customer cut in.

Wonsik frowned. “I’m sorry?”

“Do you stock Jellyfish Entertainment?” the customer asked.

“We should, yeah,” Wonsik said. “We sell out pretty fast though, so I’m not sure if we’ll have much in stock.”

The customer frowned. “Ah, I see.”

“Do you have a particular artist in mind?” Hongbin cut in. “We’ll take requests for almost anything. It’ll take about a week or two to get the CDs in, though.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” the customer said. “I was just curious.” He paused, looking over to the CD player on a shelf to the right of Hongbin and Wonsik. “Also, a piece of advice: the background music of a record store sets the caliber for the store and its workers. Playing such... rough music may not be the best idea.”

Wonsik glared at the customer. “If you don’t like the music, then get the fuck out of this store.”

The customer quirked an eyebrow. “Ah. Have I hit a sensitive spot?”

“You motherfu-”

“Wonsik.” Hongbin glared at the man, Wonsik letting out a sigh. Hongbin looked back to the customer. “I’m sorry, today hasn’t exactly been the best day for us.”

“I understand,” the customer said. “I’ll take my leave then. Have a nice day, gentlemen.”

“Have a nice day, sir,” Wonsik grit out.

“Yes, have a nice day!” Hongbin said, hollow enthusiasm in his tone of voice.

The customer quirked an eyebrow before turning around, walking away before gently pushing the front door of the store. The bell rung faintly above him as the door opened, the man ducking out soon after.

Wonsik closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” Hongbin mumbled.

“Just, what a fucking asshole.”

Hongbin pursed his lips, pulling up the browser on the computer register, typing out the website for Jellyfish Entertainment. He pulled up the biography for the staff, eyes widening.

“Fuck,” Hongbin mumbled. “You have  _ got _ to be kidding me.”

Wonsik raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I hope you know that you just cussed out Jung Taekwoon,” Hongbin said.

“Who?”

“Oh my god,” Hongbin said. “Jung Taekwoon, CEO of Jellyfish Entertainment? Lord of the indie music industry?”

Wonsik quirked an eyebrow. “What?”

Hongbin rolled his eyes, pushing the monitor to better face Wonsik. He pointed at the top photo. “He dyed his hair recently, but that’s definitely him.”

Wonsik looked where Hongbin was pointing, eyes slowly widening as he stared at the photo. Hongbin was right: the man’s hair was black rather than a reddish brown, grown a little and parted in the middle instead of to the side, but that was definitely him.

“Wait, lord of indie music?”

“A while back Jellyfish was nowhere near as popular as they are now,” Hongbin said. “They were close to bankruptcy actually, but Taekwoon was a manager for one of their groups and he offered to help a bit more around the company.”

“His management ended up being even better than the CEO, and it wasn’t too long after that to get the previous CEO replaced,” Hongbin continued, “After a couple years, Jellyfish rose to fame, and ended up being one of the best labels within indie music. I’m surprised you don’t recognize him, in all honesty.”

Wonsik shrugged. “I’m not the best with staff names.”

“Beside the ones you audition for?”

Wonsik raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry,” Hongbin said. He sighed. “I just, I really hope things don’t get too bad for you.”

“Oh, I’m sure that I’ve just fucked myself over,” Wonsik said.

Hongbin frowned. “I’m sorry, Wonsik.”

“Don’t pity me,” Wonsik said. He looked around the empty store. “I’ll restock for a bit, let me know if you need help.”

“Thank you,” Hongbin said.

“When’s Jaehwan coming in?” Wonsik asked as he walked to the employee’s lounge.

“Eight.”

Wonsik pulled out his phone, glancing at the time.

“Alright, thanks.”

Wonsik didn’t hear what else Hongbin had said, the employee’s lounge door closing too quickly, muffling Hongbin’s words. The man pushed back thoughts about his future career, instead focusing on which artists should be restocked.


	2. Taekwoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taekwoon meets Wonsik.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello! I have finally arisen. Sorry about the wait, between school & mental health issues I've been fairly swamped. I'm hoping to give y'all longer updates with this story but it's once again something I can't fully guarantee because it rlly depends on how well something flows to me. ^^; Anywho, I hope y'all enjoy! :D

“Any appointments?” Taekwoon asked.

Hakyeon looked up from the computer in front of him, shaking his head. “No, not for today.”

“Auditions?”

“Not until 3:30.” Hakyeon replied.

“Anything else?”

“Hyoshin’s going in to record around 4 or 5 today, but otherwise no.” Hakyeon said. “The rest of the day should be pretty light for you, in all honesty.”

Taekwoon nodded, looking down to the watch on his right wrist, seeing the analog face reflecting noon back at him. “In which case, I’ll be taking a longer lunch. Text me if you need anything.”

Hakyeon nodded. “Sounds good. Are you going anywhere in particular?”

Taekwoon shrugged. “Wherever my feet take me.”

Hakyeon chuckles, flashing a small smile. “Be careful then, sir.”

“I will.” Taekwoon said. “I’ll see you later.”

~

Taekwoon glanced up from his phone, eyes squinting as he looked at the sign in front of him. The record store looked like an obviously older building, off-white lettering reading  _ R.ebirth Records _ . Taekwoon quirked an eyebrow. Interesting name.

He ducked into the record store, looking up when he hears a bell ring above him. His eyes scanned the store. Black, metal shelves were lined up along the back wall and arranged in neat rows in the middle of the store. White signs stuck up from some of the shelves, reading off a certain genre. Smaller labels on some of the shelves indicated the letter, presumably arranging the albums by artist. Taekwoon looked to his left, seeing two men stood at the counter. The one in front of the monitor practically had a bowl cut, dark bangs hanging just above his eyebrows. Despite that, he looked obviously attractive. Briefly, Taekwoon wondered if the man could sing. As for the other employee, he had bright red hair styled into an undercut, longer hair slicked to one side. His clothing suggested a desire to look “edgy”- so, a rapper?

“Hello, sir! Do you need help browsing?”

Taekwoon’s eyes squinted when he realized that the potential-singer had been talking to him. He moved over towards the counter, eyes briefly flickering down to read the name-tags on each man’s chests. 

_ Lee Hongbin _ and  _ Kim Wonsik _ . Interesting names.

Taekwoon avoided the impulse to try and recruit both men, instead asking them about what labels were kept in stock. Wonsik appeared to be more aware of the store; perhaps he’s the manager? Would he be fine with dropping  _ R.ebirth Records _ if he were to audition and be accepted into Jellyfish, then? Perhaps not. 

The potential-manager shook his head, eyes flickering over to the CD player near the two employees.

“Also, a piece of advice: the background music of a record store sets the caliber for the store and its workers. Playing such... rough music may not be the best idea.” Taekwoon added.

Taekwoon pushed back the thought about how the artist sounded strangely similar to Wonsik, instead focused on staring down Wonsik when he glared at Taekwoon.

“If you don’t like the music, then get the fuck out of this store.” Wonsik replied.

Taekwoon quirked an eyebrow. “Ah. Have I hit a sensitive spot?”

~

“Back so soon?” Hakyeon said. “It’s not even 1:30.”

Taekwoon shrugged. “I got bored.”

“Hm.” Hakyeon hummed, clicking at his computer a few times before looking back up to Taekwoon. “So, anything interesting?’

“Eh,” Taekwoon replied. “I found a couple potentials.”

“Did you scout them?”

Taekwoon shook his head. “One of them was quite on edge the whole time, so I didn’t want to ask.”

Hakyeon frowned. “Well, appearance scouting doesn’t always work well, so perhaps it’s for the best.”

“True.” Taekwoon looked over to his desk. “Anyways, I’ll see if I can get ahead before the auditions.” He continued, “Oh, and Hyoshin’s at four?”

“He decided to come in closer to five.”

“Alright.” Taekwoon went to sit at his desk, immediately flipping his laptop open.

Taekwoon looked over his emails for maybe five minutes before he gave up. His eyes flickered over to Hakyeon- still appearing to be deeply engrossed in his work- before he rummaged through a drawer in his desk, pulling out a set of white earbuds. He plugged them in, pulling up another tab and searching the name of the on-edge employee- Kim Wonsik? It took maybe a minute for Taekwoon to find a Soundcloud; it appeared to be Wonsik’s, though he used the name Ravi on there. 

He was right: Wonsik- well, Ravi- was a rapper. He had one mixtape out, and there were a few songs labelled as demos. All of the songs had about a thousand listens each, all under a hundred hearts. Taekwoon shrugged. Not too bad, though he’d definitely seen better in Soundcloud artists. He looked over the names of the songs, eyes landing on one song marked as featuring Lee Hongbin. Ah. So perhaps he was a singer. Taekwoon clicked on the song featuring Hongbin, double-checking that the volume of his laptop wouldn’t blare out his ears.

The first thing Taekwoon noticed was the instrumental; it sounded fairly clean, though there were definitely heavy influences from trap and other electronic music. The vocals sounded a lot rougher though; Wonsik’s rapping did appear to be naturally more gruff, voice eternally bordering a growl, but Taekwoon could also notice some static and occasional popping sounds- did he not use a pop filter? When Hongbin’s voice came in, Taekwoon paused, pursing his lips slightly. Hongbin did sound shaky when he went to- what were presumably- the extremes of his vocal range, but there was a color to his baritone voice that Taekwoon couldn’t help admiring. 

Taekwoon listened to a song called  _ Rose _ next, marked as featuring someone named Ken. Once again, the song had lots of trap influence, though this song was more melodic than the last. The other singer, Ken, sounded profoundly better than Hongbin; his voice was naturally higher, but there was more stability behind it, and he had more of a tendency to belt high notes. The manager decided to search for Ken on Soundcloud once he’d listened to Wonsik’s mixtape, Taekwoon finding that Ken’s voice was strangely familiar to him.

The mixtape- called  _ R.ebirth _ \- ultimately became background music for Taekwoon as he continued to sort through his emails, typing up schedules for a couple of groups. However, Taekwoon had to pause when a familiar song came on. The man raised an eyebrow, switching to the tab containing Soundcloud, a song called  _ Where Should I Go  _ staring back at him. 

Ah. This was the song playing in the record store. It sounded a lot better on the computer, though the roughness of the song was still fairly apparent; maybe their CD player was a bit worn out, at least in comparison to his year-old laptop. Taekwoon leaned back in his chair. Maybe he’d been a bit harsh on Wonsik and Hongbin. Background music sets the mood for a record store- well, any store in general- but maybe this song hadn't been as awful as Taekwoon implied. It definitely explained Wonsik’s earlier reaction.

Taekwoon glanced at his watch, frowning at the time. Well, auditions were in less than thirty minutes, so he’d have to try passing by the record store at a later time. He looked up.

“Hakyeon, where are the profiles for the people auditioning?”

\---

It was another couple of weeks before Taekwoon was able to pass by the record store. Not much had changed in the time since he was gone, the man still briefly looking up when the bell rang above his head after opening the front door. He turned his head over towards the counter. Both Hongbin and Wonsik were working today, the latter practically glaring daggers at Taekwoon. Taekwoon’s lip quirked, the man walking over to the two.

“The fuck are you doing here?” Wonsik said, spite in his voice.

Hongbin slapped Wonsik’s arm, the man glaring at Hongbin before his expression softened. He let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry about him,” Hongbin said. “Today hasn’t been the best day.”

“What do you want?” Wonsik said, only slightly less malice in his voice.

Taekwoon smirked.

“I have a question for you.”


	3. Wonsik

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wonsik gets a job offer.

Wonsik felt all of the blood in his body pool in his feet when he saw the white envelope shoved into the clip just beside the front door of his apartment. He shook off the shiver running down his back, grabbing the letter off the clip. His eyes flickered around the hallway before he unlocked the door, immediately ducking into his apartment.

He walked straight to the living room, moving beside a wall that served to divide the kitchen from the living room. Wonsik flopped onto the couch- an ugly brown, the cushions having lost most of their softness years ago- tearing open the envelope. His expression fell.

 

_ Mr. Kim Wonsik,  _

 

_ This is the second time you’ve been late paying your rent. If this offense is repeated one more time, you will be evicted. You will have twenty-four hours to clear out the apartment, and anything left behind will be donated. _

_ We would like for you to remain our resident as long as possible, but must enforce all policies fairly and as according to your lease. _

 

_ Thank you, _

_ Management _

 

Wonsik read through the short letter far too many times, eventually getting so frustrated that he ripped it in half, crumpling both pieces and throwing them to the ground. He leaned back in the couch, head against one armrest, neck already cramping at the wood beneath it.

Why now? He was still paying off the equipment he’d bought last year. This past time forgetting to pay rent had been a mistake; he’d been up for far too long doing recordings, and the due date had completely slipped his mind. 

God. Wonsik rubbed at his eyes. How the fuck was he going to catch up with finances? He could remember paying the rent, but his utilities were three months overdue. Not to mention that his phone bill still had to be paid off- the man could hardly text unless he was in somewhere with wifi. And of course, he wanted to save up for better equipment, or at least a better microphone and pop filter.

He needed another job. But where? He still needed time to record music, and he needed time to try and find other companies to audition. He could always move-

Wonsik shook his head. No. No, he had to stay in Seoul, it was the only way that he could get signed to a good company.

Wonsik’s stomach growled. This is too much. He pulled out his phone, double checking that his wifi was working before he sent Hongbin a message.

 

_ [Wonsik, Wed 19:30] _

_ Can I come over? My apartment’s empty and it’ll be a bit before I can afford groceries again. _

 

_ [Hongbin, Wed 19:33] _

_ I’m closing tonight, remember? _

 

Shit.

 

_ [Wonsik, Wed 19:35] _

_ No. _

 

_ [Hongbin, Wed 19:37] _

_ Do you think you can wait until we close? You can come help out at the shop if you want some extra hours. _

 

Wonsik flashed a smile.

 

_ [Wonsik, Wed 19:39] _

_ That works. I’ll be over in about fifteen. _

~

Wonsik was looking over the inventory list when he heard the bell ring. He looked up, face automatically falling when a familiar raven-haired man walked in.

“The fuck are you doing here?” Wonsik could feel spite flowing in his veins.

Hongbin slapped Wonsik’s arm, Wonsik flinching slightly. He glared at Hongbin, face softening when Hongbin glared just as strongly back. Hongbin looked back over to Taekwoon.

“I’m sorry about him,” Hongbin said. “Today hasn’t been the best day.”

“What do you want?” Wonsik said, trying to calm his aggressively pumping heart.

Taekwoon smirked. “I have a question for you.”

Wonsik raised an eyebrow. “Okay.”

“Last time,” Taekwoon started. “That was your music, yes?”

Wonsik slowly nodded.

“ _ Where Should I Go _ ?”

“Wait, how do you know that-”

“I went through your Soundcloud a couple weeks ago.” Taekwoon interrupted. “Ravi’s an interesting name, I must say. How’d you find that one?”

“What are you trying to imply?”

Taekwoon moved forward then, hands slamming against the counter, placing his face a couple inches away from Wonsik’s own.

“I’m trying to offer you a job.” Taekwoon said. “Or are you so spiteful that you’ll turn me down immediately?”

Wonsik’s eyes widened, the man gulping once. He took a step back, eyes flickering over to Hongbin.

“I-” Wonsik shook his head. “What kind of job are you offering?”

Taekwoon smiled, straightening up and crossing his arms. “Well, I can’t immediately give you a record deal.” He quirked an eyebrow when Wonsik frowned. “I do want you to work for it, but there’s no way in hell that I’m training you like another idol.”

“So,” Taekwoon continued. “Work for me for three months. If you enjoy the company, get along well enough with my other artists. If your music improves enough, I’ll sign you. Otherwise,” He tilted his head. “You’ll be back to your subpar equipment.”

Wonsik’s nostrils flared. He closed his eyes, letting out a long breath. “And I’m getting paid in this time?”

“How much is your rent?” Taekwoon asked.

“What?”

“How much is your rent?” Taekwoon repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“Um,” Wonsik said. “800,000 won.”

“So would two million a month be fine?” Taekwoon asked. “Wouldn’t be too much of a dent for me.”

Wonsik’s mouth fell open. “I,” He looked over to Hongbin. The man quirked an eyebrow, Wonsik biting his lip before turning back to Taekwoon.

“Y-Yeah. I’ll take it.”

Taekwoon smiled. “Then we have a deal.” He held out a hand, Wonsik staring at it for a moment before realizing the manager wanted a handshake. Taekwoon’s handshake was firm, reflecting the air about him. “By the way, did I ever formally introduce myself?”

“N-No.” Wonsik’s hand fell back to his side.

“Well, I assume you know who I am, but nonetheless,” Taekwoon said. “My name is Jung Taekwoon, CEO of Jellyfish Entertainment. And welcome to my company.”

\---

“Remind me why I’m here.” Wonsik looked around the restaurant again, ornate white walls and decor epitomizing luxury the man had never expected to see in his lifetime.

“I want to talk about your contract.” Taekwoon said, sipping at a glass of rose wine. “It’s late and I’d rather not go back to the studio, and we happened to be only a few minutes away from here, so.”

“But I’m,” Wonsik held out his hands, eyes flickering down towards his black pants and wrinkled white t-shirt.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Says the person literally clad in a black suit with a purple shirt underneath, clothing fitting far too well.

“People are staring at me.” Wonsik said.

“Let them.”

Wonsik gulped, eyes flickering away from Taekwoon briefly to see an older man sat at the table behind Taekwoon, glaring daggers at Wonsik. He raised an eyebrow, doing his best to fake a glare at the older man, who merely squinted his eyes before looking back to his plate.

“You haven’t touched your wine.” Taekwoon said.

Wonsik shook his head. “I don’t like rose wine.”

“Have you ever had it?”

“No.”

“Try it.” Taekwoon gestured to the glass. “It’s good. 2008 was not the best year for wine in my opinion, but this is fine.”

Wonsik raised an eyebrow, slowly grabbing his glass and raising it to his lips, taking a small sip. He cringed briefly, setting down the glass. It was a lot more sour than he expected, though that may be more because Wonsik was used to drinking darker wines since they tended to be cheaper. Tentatively, Wonsik took another sip, slightly longer than the last, already feeling himself adjust to the foreign taste.

“Any idea what you want to eat?”

“I,” Wonsik looked down at the menu, cringing slightly as he looked over the prices. Some of the foods toted prices exceeding even a week’s worth of groceries. “It’s so much.”

Taekwoon chuckled. “Yes, I’m sure it’s a lot more expensive than anything you’ve ever experienced. But you’re mine now, I might as well expose you to the best.”

Wonsik bit his lip, continuing to look over the menu.

~

“So, my contract?”

Taekwoon held up a hand, covering his mouth slightly as he finished the bite of steak he had in his mouth.

“Yes, we should get to that.” Taekwoon gulped again. “Well, as I mentioned, I’m going to have you working for me for three months before you’re able to release anything.”

“Can I make music in that time?”

“Depends,” Taekwoon said. “If you’re able to figure out how to work our equipment within the first month, then you can record as much as you want before debut. Otherwise you’re stuck with the schedule I give you.”

“That makes no sense.”

Taekwoon shrugged. “Whether or not it makes sense is my decision to make.”

Wonsik squinted, avoiding the impulse to roll his eyes and instead taking a bite of his pasta.

“So what exactly will my ‘work’ imply?”

“Whatever I need assistance with.” Taekwoon said. “My secretary Hakyeon is in charge of most of my scheduling and reminders for appointments, but once you’re trained enough for it I’ll likely send you in my stead for when I can’t make it to auditions or recordings for my other trainees and artists.”

Wonsik nodded slowly. “How am I supposed to figure out your studio equipment?”

“I imagine you’ll find the time.” Taekwoon said. “You’ll be busy, but I won’t constantly make you work.”

“What a mercy.”

Taekwoon slowly put down his fork. “I hope you understood the offer I’ve given you.” He leaned forward slightly. “My artists have to wait months, some even  _ years _ , before debuting. Three months is barely anything in my book. Not to mention that you’re being paid in this time.”

Wonsik gulped.

Taekwoon quirked an eyebrow, flashing a smirk. “You know, I could cancel this offer right here and now if you’re so opposed to working with me.”

Wonsik’s mouth fell open.

“We don’t want that though, do we?”

“I-” He shook his head. “N-No. I don’t want that.”

Taekwoon chuckled. “Good. Neither do I.”

Silence briefly fell between the two men as they ate a few more bites of their food. Taekwoon sipped his wine, looking over to Wonsik.

“So, do we have a deal?” Taekwoon asked.

Wonsik hesitantly nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, we have a deal.”

Taekwoon smiled. “In which case, welcome aboard, Kim Wonsik. We’ll file the paperwork tomorrow.” He flagged down a waiter, asking for the check before turning back to Wonsik. “I’ll see you at 7am sharp.”

Wonsik fought the impulse to cringe at the awful time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok ngl I bullshitted the currency values in here I'm so sorry


	4. Taekwoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wonsik gets a tour of the Jellyfish office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I know it's been a long time since I posted and I def am sorry about that. Things have been rather busy with school and in all honesty I've been super depressed recently and felt like no one actually cared about my writing so uhhh... yeah sorry about that. I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D

Taekwoon looked up slowly when he heard the door slam open, cringing when he heard the bang of the glass against the plaster.

“Ah,” Taekwoon said. “Took you long enough.”

Wonsik was stood panting, glancing back towards the door before closing it slowly. Taekwoon flashed a small smile in thanks.

The man gulped. “S-Sorry. I got a bit confused about the bus routes, so I ended up on the wrong one.”

“Will this be a recurring issue?” Taekwoon asked.

Wonsik shook his head. “No. Or, I’ll try my best to, I can get a bit lo-”

“That’s enough.” Taekwoon cut in. “I’m not big on workers trying to give me excuses.”

Wonsik squinted, expression betraying that he was holding back saying something. Taekwoon’s eyes flickered down, looking over the plain black t-shirt and dark-wash jeans Wonsik had on, a black leather jacket tucked in one arm.

“Are those the nicest clothes you have?”

Wonsik nodded hesitantly. “I haven’t worked in professional jobs like this ever.”

“That’s apparent.” Taekwoon quirked an eyebrow when Wonsik glared at him, the artist’s expression quickly fading. He looked to his laptop. “If you’ll give me a second.”

Taekwoon pressed a button on the underside of his desk to his left. The door opened a few seconds later, Wonsik stepping aside as Hakyeon walked in.

“Yes, sir?”

“What are my appointments for today?”

Hakyeon pulled out his phone, slowly shaking his head. “Today’s surprisingly clear actually. It’s mostly trainee practices, so you don’t need to worry about sitting in on them unless you want to.” He looked over to Wonsik, quirking an eyebrow. “This is the new employee?”

“Yes.” Taekwoon said. “Is there a problem?”

“Ah, um,” Hakyeon shook his head. “No sir.”

“I figured.” Taekwoon replied. “I may have him sit on one of the practices.”

“A good idea.”

Taekwoon nodded, glancing at his watch. “I’ll likely be out of the office most of today, so text me if there are any emergencies.”

“Yes, sir.” Hakyeon looked back to Wonsik, bowing his head slightly. “It was nice to meet you ah,”

“Wonsik.” Wonsik said. “Kim Wonsik.”

“Well,” Taekwoon added. “Ravi, if he is able to debut.”

Hakyeon squinted. “That sounds familiar.”

Wonsik’s mouth fell open. “W-Wait, really?”

“Did you make  _ Rose _ ?”

“Yes.”

“That’s how I know you then.” Hakyeon said. “A friend of mine showed me that song. That Ken of yours, wonderful voice.”

Wonsik rubbed at the back of his neck. “Y-Yeah. All of my featured artists are amazing at what they do.”

“Indeed.” Taekwoon looked over to Hakyeon. “Is there anything you need to tell me, Hakyeon?”

“Ah, no sir.” Hakyeon said. “I didn’t mean to distract you both. Have a nice day.” He bowed his head again, flashing a small smile at Wonsik before ducking out of the room.

The ghost of a smile remained on Wonsik’s face as he watched the door close, fading as soon as he looked back to Taekwoon.

“So, what’s planned for today?” Wonsik asked.

“Not too much.” Taekwoon said. “I’ll give a small tour of the building, sit in on a practice,” He nodded towards Wonsik. “We’ll do a small shopping trip as well, if you’re okay with that.”

Wonsik glanced down towards his outfit. “Is it that bad?”  
Taekwoon nodded slowly. Wonsik bit his lip.

“I can’t afford much right now until payday.”  
“Consider it an obtaining of a uniform.” Taekwoon added, “Companies give those out for free, right?”

Wonsik’s mouth fell open. “U-um, yeah. Normally, I guess.”

“Then it’s just that.” Taekwoon said. “And no worries, there’ll be no docking of your pay, regardless of the price.”

“Thank you.” It’s one of the most sincere things Wonsik has said. His eyes briefly flickered away. “Why are you doing this? I’m not even an artist for you.”

“And?” Taekwoon said. “I subscribe to the mindset that treating your workers well will make it easier to work them as much as necessary.”

Wonsik squinted. “Ah.”

Taekwoon looked back down to his watch. “Well, shall we start this tour?”

Wonsik straightened his posture, nodding his head. Taekwoon’s lip quirked, the manager getting up before leading Wonsik out of the office.

~

“And this, I imagine, will be the best part of the tour.” Taekwoon said, turning back to Wonsik. “At least, for you it is.”  
Wonsik peeked down the hallway, squinting slightly. Taekwoon couldn’t help a faint chuckle.

“This is the area for our studios.” Taekwoon said. “There are four rooms in total, though the two closest to us are the most equipped ones.” He added, “The other two are more for quick demos more than anything else.”

Wonsik’s mouth fell open slightly.

“Where would you prefer going?”

“I guess either of the larger ones.”

Taekwoon smirked. “Naturally.” He walked to the studio on the right side of the hallway, holding open the light wooden door for Wonsik. The man bowed his head slightly, ducking into the dark room. Taekwoon flipped on the light switch.

Wonsik was practically paralyzed as he stood just inside the studio, Taekwoon seeing that the man’s mouth was agape when he went to stand to Wonsik’s left. 

Both of the larger studios were laid out essentially the same: the editing room was about 20x10 square feet, the front half of the room mostly taken up by a large mixing table, a couple monitors set up towards the left. The front of the room was mostly a large glass panel that looked into the recording room inside. A door to the right led into the room. The right side of the recording room had a sheet music stand propped up near a mic setup- including a pop filter), large headphones stuck on the top of the music stand. On the other side of the room was a piano, mic sat nearby, and a small drum set a bit behind the piano, tucked into the upper left corner of the room.

“It’s-” Wonsik shook his head. “It’s a lot.”

Taekwoon nodded. “We have other instruments as well. They’re in storage at the end of the hallway. Do you play other instruments?”

“Somewhat.” Wonsik said. “I played upright bass in high school, but otherwise I’m mostly self-taught with guitar and piano. I’m not exactly the best at either though.”

“We’ll see if we can go about changing that.” Taekwoon mumbled.

Wonsik nodded slowly. “So um, what music software do you use?”

“Depends on the room.” Taekwoon said. “We have a simpler set up in the smaller studios, so we keep Audacity in there. The bigger studios used to have Audition as the default, but we’re moving over to Logic Pro currently because we’ve upgraded the computers a bit.” He looked over to Wonsik. “What have you used before?”

“Mostly Audacity.” Wonsik replied. “It’s free so,” He shrugged. “I um, did pirate an older copy of Audition about a year ago, so I got used to that.”

“Ah,” Taekwoon nodded slowly. “For future reference, don’t bring up piracy near your supervisors.”

Wonsik’s eyes widened. “R-Right. I um, I’m sorry.”

Taekwoon chuckled. “Cute.”

Wonsik jumped slightly. “I- What?”

“Forget it.” Taekwoon pulled out his phone, seeing the email Hakyeon had sent him. He pulled it up, looking over the schedule his secretary had sent. “Ah, the major dance practice for some of our trainees has been moved to 6:30.” He double-checked his phone. “We have about four hours, if you’re interested in leaving for a bit to get food as well as find a suit or two for you.”

“Oh, um, sure.” Wonsik replied, eyes tearing away from the mixing table. There was a faint gurgle, Wonsik looking down and gripping his stomach.

“Perhaps we’ll get food first.” Taekwoon typed out a quick message to Hakyeon saying that he would be out of the studio for a while. There was a brief vibration as he placed his phone back in his pocket. “Shall we?”

Wonsik nodded, following Taekwoon out of the studio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in all honesty, I do wanna post the rest of this story that I have so far, but I think I'm going to have to take a bit of a hiatus from writing fanfic unless I get a major spark of motivation. I feel burnt out in all honesty and I don't get much joy from writing recently, and wanna get back into writing on my own terms. I'm rlly sorry if that's a disappointment to any of you but I feel like it's unfair for me to write something I'm not completely proud of just for the sake of finishing a story, you know?


	5. Wonsik

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wonsik & Taekwoon go suit shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok tbh don't expect this pace from me regularly lol I'm just trying to upload the backlog of chapters I have before finals start for me. I am hoping to write some over break tho I can't be fully certain because in all honesty my priority is studying for the MCAT. ^^; I hope y'all enjoy!

“Your car is so... clean.” Wonsik said, leaning back in the white leather seat as Taekwoon started up the car. His head thudded against the headrest, lolling over to his left to look at Taekwoon. “I feel like I’m going to stain the leather if I so much as breathe wrong.”

Taekwoon chuckled. “The leather’s a lot stronger than it looks.” He continued, “As for the mess, I’m of the mindset that cleanliness is a reflection of your mental state. Hence, the lack of mess.”

“Ah.” Wonsik said. “I should never show you my car then.”

For multiple reasons.

Wonsik didn’t expect another chuckle from Taekwoon, the man briefly taking a hand off the wheel to cover up his mouth. “Actually, I keep everything in my trunk. Though I do definitely avoid accumulating too much trash.”

“That makes more sense.” Wonsik said. “More human, if nothing else.”

Taekwoon raised an eyebrow. “Am I somehow inhuman?”

“Ah, well,” Wonsik paused. “Maybe not inhuman but, different than I expected.”

“What does that mean?”

Wonsik shook his head. “Just, forget about it.”

Taekwoon nodded slowly. “Alright then.”

The pair fell into silence for the next ten or so minutes it took them to get to a nearby mall, one of the nicer ones Wonsik would never have expected to step into. Taekwoon twirled his keys around one finger as he got out of the car, quickly locking his car before resuming the twirling.

“A reminder that price doesn’t mean much to me.” Taekwoon said. “Pick what appeals to you, so long as it look professional enough.”

“Are you sure?”

Taekwoon nodded. “Only the best for my employees.”

Wonsik let out a long breath. “Right.”

“So, I assumed we could get some food in the mall, if that works?” Taekwoon said as the pair started to walk towards the entrance. 

Wonsik nodded. “That seems rather tame of you.”

Taekwoon shrugged. “I’m not always focused on flashing all of my wealth.”

Wonsik couldn’t help a snort at that, making Taekwoon look back to him, an eyebrow quirked as the ghost of a smile remained on Wonsik’s face. The man’s expression fell back to normal, Taekwoon’s eyes flickering away.

The pair ultimately got burgers at the food court. Taekwoon had far too many napkins in comparison to the nonexistent amount Wonsik obtained. The manager had raised an eyebrow, pushing a couple Wonsik’s way as soon as he sat down.

“So clean.”

Taekwoon finished a bite, swallowing slowly. “Are you surprised?” He wiped at his face.

Wonsik shrugged. “I guess I shouldn’t be.”

The rest of the late lunch passed in essential silence, Wonsik finishing his food far quicker than Taekwoon. His stomach finally settled, the loud protesting growls that had built since he’d woken up.

“You finished fast.” Taekwoon said after taking the last bite of his burger.

Wonsik bit his lip. “Y-Yeah. I haven’t eaten today until now.”

Something appeared in Taekwoon’s expression. “Really?”

Wonsik nodded. “Like I said, I can’t afford anything. I don’t really have much food at home besides flour and sugar, which I can’t do much with if I don’t have anything else to use it with.”

“Ah.” Taekwoon said. He rubbed at his face one last time with the napkin, rubbing his hands before finally setting it down. “So you need groceries?”

“Yeah.” Wonsik replied slowly.

“Do you cook?”

“If I can afford it, yeah.” Wonsik said. “Otherwise I mostly live off instant ramen and any vegetables or meat that’s on sale.”

Taekwoon squinted. “We should get groceries after this.”

“Wait, what?”

“I was going to have you sit on a practice but I honestly can’t find it in me to go to one right now.”

“I-Isn’t it more important for me to see something like that?”

“Not if you can’t even buy yourself food.” Taekwoon replied bluntly. “I treat all my workers well, remember?”

Wonsik pushed back the emotions swelling in his chest. “T-This is a lot for someone like me.”

Taekwoon shrugged. “It really doesn’t affect me that badly, trust me.”

“Right.” Wonsik looked down to his trash then Taekwoon’s, gathering up the two trays to throw away their contents. He placed the trays on top of the trash can, turning back to Taekwoon. “So where are we headed?”

“There’s this shop on the other side of the mall that I particularly enjoy.” Taekwoon said. “Good fitters, nice designs, decent price. Probably a bit pricey for you at the moment but,” He shrugged.

“It’s in your range?”

“Quite easily.” Taekwoon said. “They’re good about having sales anyways, so if you’re honestly that worried, there are some options.”

“Good to know.” Wonsik mumbled, following Taekwoon towards the supposed shop.

Wonsik couldn’t tell if he should be surprised or not when they finally made it to the shop. There was a plain sign posted above the top of the shop, advertising  _ Kim’s Suits _ in white block lettering. The shop had glass doors and full-length glass windows, easily peering into a wealth of full-body mannequins and racks on multiple levels, filled to the brim with either suit jackets or pants. 

Taekwoon was the first to enter the shop, setting off a faint buzz as he opened one of the glass doors. An employee looked up from the desk he was at, a smile appearing on his face.

“Ah, Mr. Jung,” The employee said.

“Hello Hoseok.” Taekwoon said.

“Are you getting a new suit?” Hoseok asked. “Seems a bit early for you.”

“Ah, no, I’m helping him.” Taekwoon pointed to Wonsik.

Hoseok squinted. “And you are?”

“He’s my new emp-”

“I’m Wonsik,” Wonsik said. “Well, Ravi. I’m a rapper.”

Hoseok’s mouth fell open slightly. “Wait, really?”

Taekwoon raised an eyebrow, looking over to Wonsik. The rapper smirked.

“You’ve heard my Soundcloud?”

“Yes of course,” Hoseok looked around the store, only containing a couple other customers idly looking over suits. “In all honesty, you’re a big inspiration for me. I’m hoping to get into a company soon.” He looked over to Taekwoon. “Ah, sorry sir, you needed me to help him.”

“Yes.” Taekwoon replied slowly. “Do you know your measurements?”

Wonsik shook his head. “Ah, no. I’ve never measured myself.”

“Of course.” Taekwoon mumbled. Wonsik glared at the manager.

“So a fitting will be needed.” Hoseok looked to Taekwoon. “And how much were you planning on buying?”

“A couple suit jackets and pants, maybe a few nice button-downs,” Taekwoon glanced at Wonsik’s shoes. “Do you have any dress shoes at the moment?”

Hoseok nodded. “A new shipment came in actually. Any ties?”

Taekwoon shook his head. “That won’t be necessary.”

“Right,” Hoseok waved Wonsik over. “Let’s get you measured then.”

Wonsik followed Hoseok to the back of the shop, steps hesitant, gaze flickering back to Taekwoon from time-to-time. Hoseok opened a door in the back, left side of the store, waving Wonsik over, the man ducking in behind him.

The room was fairly small and circular, about a quarter of its walls covered in a mirror that stretched floor-to-ceiling. There was a small shelf that stretched around the rest of the room, about as high as Wonsik’s knee, covered with a wealth of measuring tapes and small kits for sewing. Hoseok grabbed a clipboard that hung just beside the door, closing it before turning back to Wonsik.

“Have you ever been measured before?” Hoseok asked.

Wonsik slowly shook his head. 

“Ah.” Hoseok mumbled. He looked down to the clipboard, scribbling a few things before placing it on one part of the bench, grabbing a measuring tape that lay nearby. He started to unroll the tape, glancing up to Wonsik. “It’s gonna seem a little awkward, but put up your arms and spread your legs a bit.”

Wonsik raised an eyebrow, slowly moving his limbs apart and watching Hoseok bring the measuring tape up to measure along the inside of Wonsik’s arm, from around his armpit to his wrist. The whole process takes maybe half an hour, Hoseok mumbling how Wonsik would need to change positions, bringing the measuring tape up, then writing a number down on the clipboard. With the last measurement Hoseok wrote down the number before glancing up to Wonsik, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Okay, that’s everything.” Hoseok said. “I hope that wasn’t too awkward.”

Wonsik shrugged. “It could’ve been worse.”

Hoseok briefly glanced down to the clipboard. “So is there any particular style you’d prefer?”

“Uh,” Wonsik paused. “I’ve never worn a suit so I wouldn’t really know.”  
Hoseok looked Wonsik over. “I think I have a few ideas.” He turned around, opening the door and looking back to Wonsik, waving his hand.

Wonsik walked out of the small room, immediately seeing Taekwoon stood by a circular display of shoes. He was currently holding up one black leather shoe, face neutral as he scrutinized the design. Taekwoon looked over when the door to the measuring room closed, the manager placing the shoe back down before walking over to Wonsik and Hoseok.

“So?” Taekwoon said.

“We definitely have everything in stock that you’re looking for,” Hoseok said. “I have a few ideas for designs but since Wonsik couldn’t think of anything specific he wanted I figured I would ask for your opinion before I start grabbing stuff.”

“Of course he couldn’t think of anything.” Wonsik squinted his eyes at the comment, Taekwoon merely quirking an eyebrow in reply. “I trust your judgement, though.”  
Hoseok nodded slowly. “Right. I’ll be back in a few minutes then.” 

The tailor walked away, Taekwoon turning back to Wonsik. Taekwoon went back to the shoe display, Wonsik trailing behind him.

“What do you think of this?” Taekwoon grabbed the shoe he’d been scrutinizing earlier, holding it out to Wonsik.

Wonsik grabbed the shoe out of Taekwoon’s hand, rubbing a hand along the smooth, shiny leather. “Aren’t you expecting me not to have an opinion on any of this?”

Taekwoon squinted feline eyes. Wonsik gulped.

“Sorry.” Wonsik mumbled. “I like this, though. Very ah, shiny.”

“The price isn’t too bad either.” Taekwoon grabs the shoe when Wonsik handed it back to him. “What’s your shoe size?”

“Twenty-seven.”

Taekwoon glanced at the inside of the shoe. “Perfect.” He grabbed the other shoe, holding the pair out to Wonsik. “It’s a reasonable price as well, so I imagine you’ll appreciate that.”

Wonsik grabbed the shoes hesitantly, glancing between Taekwoon and the shoes. “Thanks.” He replied slowly. Tentatively, he flipped over the shoes, eyes immediately widening at the price printed on a small, white label. Wonsik blinked a few times, eyes flickering up when he heard a snicker from Taekwoon.

“What?”

“Are your reactions always like that?”

“Like what?”

“Exaggerated.” Taekwoon looked away from Wonsik, the rapper frowning before he noticed Hoseok walking towards the both of them.

Hoseok held up two suits, one black with thin, white pinstripes, the other a plain charcoal. Wonsik noticed an additional hanger shoved onto Hoseok’s left arm, a sky blue suit with black lapels.

Taekwoon glanced over to Wonsik. “Do you like them?”

Wonsik took a couple of steps forward, hesitantly grabbing the sleeve of the black suit, running his thumb and index finger along the cotton material, some of the smoothest fabric Wonsik had ever felt. He repeated this with the charcoal suit, material slightly stiffer than the other but still smooth to the touch.

“Yes they’re really good.” Wonsik replied. He looked down to the blue suit. “What’s that one, though?”

“Oh.” Hoseok switched the charcoal suit to his right hand, fumbling for a couple seconds to grab the blue suit. “It’s a bit of a reach, but I thought the color would suit you.” He nodded towards Wonsik’s hair, still a bright red. “A nice contrast with your hair.”

“Oh.” Wonsik glanced over to Taekwoon, seeing a smirk on the manager’s face.

“I’ll take them all.” Taekwoon replied. “We can always keep the blue suit for live stages.” He looked over to Wonsik. “Well, assuming that you’re actually able to debut.”

Wonsik squinted.

“Alright, let me ring this up then.” Hoseok walked over to the front desk, laying the suits on top of each other.

Taekwoon walked over to the front of the store, Wonsik trailing a few steps behind him. Hoseok rattled off the total for the three suits, a number Wonsik heard yet couldn’t fully comprehend. The suits were placed in separate plastic bags, Taekwoon saying his thanks, Wonsik also nodding in thanks before the pair ducked out of the store.

“Well then.” Taekwoon mumbled, holding out the suits to Wonsik. “That was rather productive.”

“Yeah.” Wonsik grabbed the suits from Taekwoon, draping them over his left arm.

Taekwoon pulled out his phone, glancing at the time before pocketing it again. “It’s not too late, so we’ll do a quick grocery run for you as well. Where’s your apartment complex?”

“It’s ah, on the outskirts of Seoul.” Wonsik replied, rattling off a street name.

“Hm.” Taekwoon hummed. “That’s close to that record store, yes?”

“Kind of?” Wonsik replied. “About fifteen minutes by bus. Longer if there’s traffic.”

“Ah.” Taekwoon glanced around the parking garage they’d just stepped into, pulling out his keys and pressing down on the button once. He turned towards the prompt beep, lips faintly parting.

It took a second for Wonsik to realize his gaze had fallen to Taekwoon’s lips, fixated on the gap between the manager’s upper and lower lips.

What the fuck.

Wonsik promptly realized he’d fallen out of pace with Taekwoon, steps quickening to catch up with the manager. Taekwoon glanced back, eyebrow quirked.

“You alright?”

“Yeah.” Wonsik replied slowly.

Taekwoon hummed again, looking back to his car and unlocking it. Wonsik placed the suits in the backseat of Taekwoon’s car, ducking into the passenger’s seat soon after.


	6. Taekwoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taekwoon & Wonsik have an interesting conversation.

“This is the complex, right?” Taekwoon had paused his car just by the front entrance, idling near a spot where the manager noticed the bars of a former gate. 

Taekwoon felt no surprise at the discovery.

Wonsik nodded, adding, “It’s towards the back of the complex. Building seven.”

“Right.” Taekwoon drove slowly, letting Wonsik point out how to weave through maze-like setup of the buildings.

“I’ll help you carry these in.” Taekwoon undid his seatbelt, popping the trunk before opening his door.

“You sure?” Wonsik replied. “I’m sure I can get everything.”

Taekwoon quirked an eyebrow as he went to grab the suits from the backseat.

“Living on the third-story for a good chunk of my life has taught me well.” Wonsik said, looping grocery bags on his arms.

Taekwoon snorted, closing the passenger door. He walked back to Wonsik, eyes flickering down to the trunk, now cleared of grocery bags. The manager couldn’t help another snort when he looked up to Wonsik, seeing a small smirk on the man’s face. 

“Lead the way.” Taekwoon said, closing his trunk and locking his car with his free hand.

Wonsik’s face fell, an unreadable emotion on his face. “Yeah. Right.”

Taekwoon’s lips pursed, the manager falling into pace a few steps behind Wonsik. After a small amount of fumbling, Wonsik was able to unlock the door to his apartment, stumbling slightly when it fell open.

“Well, welcome to my humble abode.”

Taekwoon stepped into the apartment, eyes flickering around the room, blinking a couple of times.

See, what Taekwoon had expected was the complete opposite of what he saw. He’d thought Wonsik’s apartment would be a mess, some amount of dishes stacked in the sink, trash littered intermittently throughout the rooms. Instead, there was almost nothing. The two rooms Taekwoon could see- the kitchen right by the front door, and the living room further in- were completely clear save for the small amount of furniture in the apartment. And, the place was rather empty: the kitchen only had appliances, and a few cabinets above the kitchen sink and on the side with the fridge, along with a trash can on the verge of overflowing; the living room only had a couch with a small coffee table in front of it, along with a cabinet that had a rather-antiquated TV sat on top of it, the layer of dust an indicator of how little it was used.

Wonsik waved Taekwoon over to a kitchen table sat just between the kitchen and the living room, laying the plastic bags on the table.

“Where do you want this?”

“Just lay it on one of the chairs.” Wonsik nodded his head towards one of the four chairs around the table, the man beginning to sort through the groceries.

“Alright.” Taekwoon placed the shoes on the floor just beside one of the chairs, carefully draping the suits over the chair. “Do you need, ah, help?”

Wonsik shook his head, walking away from Taekwoon to open the pantry set up near the kitchen table. He slid open the pantry door, revealing four shelves completely bare save for a bag of flour and an unopened bottle of soy sauce.

“I have my own system of organization.” Wonsik replied, looking between the two cans in his hands before placing each on separate shelves. “Well, I do when I actually have food.”

“Ah.” Taekwoon stood in silence, watching Wonsik go through the process of putting away his groceries. His eyes flickered between Wonsik’s suits and the newly obtained food, Taekwoon letting out a faint sigh.

He’d really spent a lot today, hadn't he. It was worth it, though, to some extent; Wonsik still seemed rather prickly, but after getting the food Taekwoon couldn’t help feeling like Wonsik’s attitude had lessened.

“Do you hate me?” The question was blurted out with little thought, Taekwoon wondering where the question had come from.

Wonsik paused his sorting, briefly glancing down to the rice noodles in his hands. “Well, I don’t exactly consider you a friend, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Taekwoon snorted. “I don’t expect to be your friend.”

“Oh?”

“While I don’t want us to be mortal enemies, I do expect some level of respect between us.”

“Speak for yourself.” Wonsik mumbled, Taekwoon quirking an eyebrow. The man put away the last box of food, turning back to Taekwoon and placing his hands on the kitchen table, pushing aside the plastic bags now littering the table. “I’ve hardly done anything yet you treat me like a child.”

“You haven’t proven yourself to me yet.”

“What is there to prove? Didn’t I do that when you gave me that fucking contract?”

“I know nothing about you.” Taekwoon said. “Sure, you’re talented musically, but do you work hard? Do you actually care about your music-”

“Of course I care-”

“But how can I know?” Taekwoon cut in. “I have idols that train for months, even years, to debut. I have to carefully calculate the timing of releases and promotions for groups that may not last more than a year just because I can’t break even with the cost of keeping them together.”

“Then let me prove myself.” Wonsik replied. “I can’t prove myself if you don’t give me the chance to.”

Taekwoon squinted. “I never said you wouldn’t get chances to prove yourself. You just need to operate on my terms to get those chances.”

Wonsik rolled his eyes.

“Is that clear?”

“Yeah, sure.” Wonsik replied curtly. He waved a hand. “Now get the fuck out of my apartment.”

Taekwoon straightened his posture at that. “Right. I’ll see you at 7am sharp tomorrow.”

“Whatever.” Wonsik pinched at the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezing shut.

Taekwoon snorted. “Cute.”

The manager walked out of Wonsik’s apartment, door slamming shut behind him.

\---

“Do you think I’m too harsh to Wonsik?”

“Not really.” Hakyeon looked down to his empty wine glass, eyes scanning the room for their waiter. “Aren’t you like that with every trainee?”

“Yes. But their reactions aren’t so,” Taekwoon waved his hand vaguely.

“Because they’re scared shitless that you’ll take away their chance to debut.” Hakyeon glanced around one last time, letting out a faint  _ tsk _ .

“Wonsik doesn’t seem scared.”

“Because he’s convinced you’ll debut him.” Hakyeon locked eyes with their waiter, waving the timid man over and asking for another glass of rose. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Taekwoon mumbled. He glanced down at his half-eaten steak, prodding at the medium-rare meat a few times.

“What exactly are you worried about?” Hakyeon’s eyes locked on his glass steadily being filled. He nodded his thanks to the waiter, the man walking away quickly.

Taekwoon popped a piece of steak into his mouth, chewing slowly. “Losing him, I guess.”

“You won’t lose him.” Hakyeon sipped his wine, briefly glancing down to the few remaining bites of pasta on his plate. “He’s determined to debut. Kid seems like one of those ‘by whatever means necessary’ kind of people.”

Taekwoon hummed. “Maybe.”

A few minutes passed before Taekwoon spoke again. “How’s Jaehwan?”

Hakyeon sighed, taking a longer sip of his wine.

Taekwoon snorted. “Another fight?”

Hakyeon nodded. “He went to a musical audition last week and just found out that he wouldn’t be getting a callback.”

“Oh.” Taekwoon said. “I’m sorry.”

“It was some shit company anyways, I’m honestly glad he didn’t get in.” Hakyeon knocked back the rest of his wine, frowning at the now-empty glass.

“You can order more, if you want.” Taekwoon said. “I’m giving you a ride home, remember?”

Hakyeon flashed a small smile. “Thanks but um, I’ll be fine.”

Taekwoon nodded, smiling briefly. “Did you tell him about my offer?”

“I did.” Hakyeon said. “It’s why we fought.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s convinced that debuting as an artist with a company wouldn’t be the same as him getting into musicals and building his reputation that way.”

“He can do musicals once he’s signed to Jellyfish.”

“I told him that.” Hakyeon replied, fingernail tapping at his empty glass. “He’s still vehemently against it, though.”

“Hm.” Taekwoon hummed. “The offer remains open, though. As long as it takes.”

Hakyeon chuckled. “Yeah um, thanks.”

“Is he still working at that record store?”

“Part-time, yeah.”

“You never told me the name.”

“I guess I didn’t. It was, um-” Hakyeon’s mouth fell open. “Oh.”

Taekwoon quirked an eyebrow.

“R.ebirth Records.”

“You’re kidding.” Taekwoon said.

Hakyeon shook his head. “I didn’t really think about it until now. Wow. I never would’ve expected him to be coworkers with Wonsik.”

“Nor I.” Taekwoon glanced around the restaurant, waving down their waiter to get the check. “Though, I guess it’s nothing to worry about now. So long as things go according to plan, Wonsik won’t ever work there again.”

“Right.” Hakyeon watched the check get placed on the table, shifting in his seat to get out his wallet before placing a few bills on the table. “For the wine.”

Taekwoon chuckled, placing his card in the check holder. “Thanks.”


	7. Wonsik

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hongbin & Wonsik catch up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it's been a bit, I meant to update earlier but got kinda caught up in the holidays. ^^; Hope y'all enjoy!

The chirp of his phone made Wonsik bolt upright, immediately looking around to find his phone. Shit, did he oversleep, he’s so fucked-

Oh. Right. It’s Saturday; Taekwoon wouldn’t need him to come in today.

Wonsik rubbed at his eyes, acutely aware of his lightheadedness and the ache running along his neck and down the left side of his body. It’s what he gets for sleeping on the couch yet again, practically nonexistent cushioning offering little support for his body.

Wonsik saw his phone sat on the edge of the coffee table, promptly grabbing it and opening the text message.

 

_ [Hongbin, Sat 11:30] _

_ Hey, I know things are busy for you but would you wanna meet up sometime soon? It’s weird not having you around the shop all the time _

 

Wonsik chuckled.

 

_ [Wonsik, Sat 11:33] _

_ yeah, sure. i’m not too busy if you’d wanna meet up for dinner tonight? _

 

_ [Hongbin, Sat 11:36] _

_ Late dinner okay? Jaehwan has an audition so I’m closing _

 

_ [Wonsik, Sat 11:37] _

_ that’s fine _

 

_ [Hongbin, Sat 11:40] _

_ Alright then. Your place or mine? _

 

_ [Wonsik, Sat 11:42] _

_ either’s fine, i have food for once _

 

_ [Hongbin, Sat 11:45] _

_ I’m amazed _

 

_ [Hongbin, Sat 11:47] _

_ We can eat at my apartment though. I’ll text when I’m heading over to pick you up _

 

_ [Wonsik, Sat 11:49] _

_ see you then _

 

Wonsik chuckled, locking his phone before leaning back against the couch. He let out a yawn. God he needed coffee.

Black coffee in hand, sweetened with a small amount of sugar, along with a piece of toast coated with peanut butter, Wonsik retreated to the bedroom he’d converted into a studio. In all honesty, the extra room was part of the reason Wonsik had so many issues with making ends meet; Wonsik enjoyed having a space solely just for making music though, so he’d decided to grin and bear it. Besides, this complex didn’t have much of a difference in rent for the two-bedroom versus the one-bedroom apartments.

The room was relatively sparse, the only furniture being two desks and a somewhat-aged rolling chair. The desk closest to the front door had the majority of his music editing and recording equipment, while the one closer to the back room was littered with parts from an old turntable, an acoustic guitar placed to the left of the desk.

Wonsik placed the mug on a familiar place on his recording desk, a dark ring worn into the wood of the desk. He booted up his computer, the man idly chewing at his peanut butter toast, mind lagging as he waits for the caffeine to kick in. By the time Wonsik had logged in and pulled up his music software he’d finished his toast, the man licking at his fingers as he pulled up his most recent project.

In all honesty, there wasn’t much to his project at the moment: all he had was a beat that he was still unsure about and lyrics written on a separate notes page on his computer. Wonsik sipped his coffee, looking over at the notes page, free hand tapping a finger on his desk. The lyrics still felt off; insomnia was a simple enough topic to write about but he still felt like something wasn’t quite right with his descriptions. Were his metaphors too cliche? Did he not use words simple enough to convey relatively universal feelings?

Wonsik put his mug down, white ceramic thudding on the desk before he let out a sigh. Is this what Taekwoon meant? He’d been working on this piece for almost a month now and he hardly had anything to show for it. Until now, his releases had always been rather sporadic, months passing between songs, his mixtape taking an entire year to finally be posted, but pacing like that could never work with a proper company. Companies demand a steady flow of content, and even a smaller company like Jellyfish can’t afford to have artists who take long periods of time to finally put out anything of worth.

Wonsik went back to his editing software, hands hovering over his laptop as he stared at the sparse track. He let out a breath, pulling up a few familiar synth samples and spreading them along the track at random.

It took little time for Wonsik to lose track of time, the man pulled out of his daze with the bing of Hongbin’s text tone. Wonsik shook his head, glancing down to his mug, quarter-full with coffee that had long gone cold, and pulled up the text from Hongbin.

 

_ [Hongbin, Sat 20:30] _

_ Shop was pretty empty so I closed up early. I’m heading over now _

 

Wonsik glanced down at the dirty shirt he slept in.

 

_ [Wonsik, Sat 20:32] _

_ give me fifteen min? _

 

_ [Hongbin, Sat 20:34] _

_ You’re lucky I need gas _

 

Wonsik chuckled, saving what work he had before grabbing his mug and leaving his room.

After a little over twenty minutes Wonsik got another text from Hongbin saying that he was pulled up outside. The man took another glob of hair wax, slicking back his hair, rubbing the remnants on a towel before leaving.

Hongbin’s car was cleaner than the last time Wonsik had seen it, no thin, tannish layer of dirt covering the black paint. No trash was on the floor when Wonsik stepped inside the car, closing the door behind him before he put on a seat belt.

“Did you give Jaehwan a ride to his audition?” Wonsik asked, glancing over to Hongbin.

“Hello to you too.” Hongbin started up the car, driving out of the parking lot. His eyes flickered over to Wonsik briefly. “And what does it matter?”

“Well, I mean,” Wonsik started. “Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?”

“Boyfriend.” Hongbin corrected, keeping his eyes on the road. “Jaehwan said he was too busy with work.” The car slowed as Hongbin pulled up to a stoplight. “You really still think I wanna get into his pants?”

“You never explicitly  _ said _ you were over him.”

“You never asked me.” Hongbin let out a sigh. “But yes, I’m over him. It took me a bit but...” The thought trailed off.

“That’s good.”

Hongbin snorted. “Thanks.”

The pair lapsed into silence for the rest of the ride to Hongbin’s apartment, only lifted when Hongbin unlocked the front door.

“So what’s for dinner?”

Hongbin shrugged. “I don’t have too much.”

“You have ramyun?”

“Yeah.”

“Kimchi?” Wonsik asked.

Hongbin walked over to the fridge, glancing inside the door. “Not much.”

“Then we’re set.” Wonsik replied.

Hongbin chuckled. “Alright, give me a few minutes to get everything ready then.”

“I can cook.”

Hongbin grabbed a half-full container of kimchi, placing it on the kitchen counter before glancing back to Wonsik, an eyebrow raised. “I’m fine with cooking.”

“You look tired.”

“Your bags are darker.” Hongbin closed the fridge door, patting Wonsik’s shoulder before heading to his pantry. “Besides, I’m the host, let me be a good one.”

Wonsik chuckled. “You say so.”

“Stay out of my kitchen.” Hongbin said, four packets of instant ramyun in his arms as he closed the pantry. “I’ll call when dinner’s ready.”

“Thanks.” Wonsik said, wandering into Hongbin’s living room, relatively sparse save for two couches, a coffee table, and an older plasma TV on a small table. He flopped onto the couch closest to the coffee table, letting out a small sigh as he propped his feet on the table.

“No feet.” Hongbin called out, cabinet slamming before Wonsik heard Hongbin place a pot on the counter.

Wonsik groaned, feet falling to the hardwood floor, position shifting slightly so that he can still sit comfortably. 

“You’re not slick.” Hongbin said, voice muffled as he filled up the pot with water.

“Didn’t expect to be.” Wonsik mumbled, unsure if Hongbin would hear the comment.

Wonsik pulled out his phone, seeing a message from Taekwoon. He went to open the message, squinting as he read the content.

 

_ [Taekwoon, Sat 21:48] _

_ I have a few trainees wanting to be rappers that are getting evaluated at 8am tomorrow. Are you interested in watching? _

 

Wonsik let out a breath. That was early.

 

_ [Wonsik, Sat 21:50]  _

_ does it affect my job if i say no? _

 

_ [Taekwoon, Sat 21:52] _

_ Not necessarily. _

 

Wonsik tapped a finger on the side of his phone. He couldn’t exactly help that much, could he? He’s an underground rapper; idol rappers have a certain way they need to act in order to be palatable. At least, that’s what he’d been taught by experience and after the hours of songs Wonsik listened to before being hired by Hongbin.

 

_ [Wonsik, Sat 21:55]  _

_ sure, i’ll come along _

 

_ [Taekwoon, Sat 21:58] _

_ Wonderful. I’ll see you at the office around 7:30. _

 

Goddammit. Wonsik groaned, throwing his phone to the other side of the cushion before leaning his head against the back of the couch.

“How’s the store?” Wonsik asked, not hearing much noise from the kitchen.

“About the same as usual.” Hongbin said. “I’ve had a few girls ask where you went, though. One guy too, actually.”

Wonsik raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Hongbin said, Wonsik hearing Hongbin drop a couple packets of the ramyun into the pot. “One girl said she missed ‘that handsome man with the red hair’.”  
“Oh.”

“Didn’t think you were that popular?”

“Guess not.”

“Don’t let it get to your head.” Hongbin said, dropping in the other packets of ramyun. “You haven’t even debuted yet.”

Wonsik rolled his eyes. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

Hongbin’s laugh carried into the living room, the sound pure and clear, Wonsik unable to help a small chuckle in reply.

The ramyun was done a few minutes later, Hongbin calling Wonsik into the kitchen. He held out a bowl to Wonsik, the man nodding in thanks before Hongbin turned back to grab his own portion of ramyun. The pair sat in the living room, Hongbin letting out a long sigh as he relaxed into the couch. His eyes flickered down as Wonsik started to lift his legs onto the table, Wonsik shifting his position so that he was sitting cross-legged on the couch, leaning forward to place his bowl on the coffee table.

“So how’s work been?” Hongbin was sat the same as Wonsik as he idly slurped at his noodles.

“Hell.” Wonsik replied, taking a bite of noodles.

Hongbin swallowed before letting out a chuckle. “That bad?”

Wonsik nodded. “I have to get to the office at seven or earlier everyday, and it’s always stressful having to worry about being late. Taekwoon’s not big on being late.”

“So informal.”

“What?” Wonsik said around a bite of ramyun, word muffled slightly.

Hongbin quirked an eyebrow. “I dunno, Taekwoon seems like the type of boss to be really strict about formality and saying sir and all that.”

Wonsik shrugged, swallowing his bite of noodles. “I’ve never been explicitly told to call him anything.”

“Hm.” Hongbin hummed, going back to eating his ramyun. The pair fell silent for a while as they ate.

“So is he anything like he seems?” Hongbin finally asked, glancing down to the broth and small bits of noodle remaining in his bowl.

Wonsik quirked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, is he actually that mean?” Hongbin replied. “I mean sure, I can tell he’s kind of strict because he wants you into work so early everyday, but that doesn’t make him a cold-blooded asshole.”

Wonsik bit at his lip. “He- er, it’s hard to explain.”

“Why?”

“Well, for one, he bought me a few suits on my first day of work.”

Hongbin coughed, setting down his bowl and wiping at his lips with the back of his hand. “Wh-What?”

“And groceries.” Wonsik added weakly.

“Wait. Wait, what?” Hongbin looked up to Wonsik. “Taekwoon’s not making you do anything sketchy on the side, right?”

“No!” Wonsik exclaimed, licking at his lips. “No, no it’s nothing like that. We hardly talk to each other outside of work even.”

“That’s strange.”

“He said that he prefers his workers happy, and mentioned that getting me a suit was essentially like giving someone a uniform at any other job but,”

“Still kinda weird.” Hongbin mumbled, grabbing his bowl and gulping down the remaining broth. “He must like you a lot.”

Of all things, Wonsik thought back to the passing compliment Taekwoon had given him, the impish ‘cute’ he’d mumbled. “I-I guess, yeah.”

“Do you like him?”

It was Wonsik’s turn to almost choke, the rapper coughing on the broth in his mouth. He put down his bowl with a faint  _ thud _ , letting out another small cough before shaking his head. “Well, I don’t exactly consider him a friend.” 

“I never considered Jaehwan much of a friend but look where I ended up.” Hongbin replied simply, placing his chopsticks in his now-empty bowl.

Wonsik bit his lip. “I don’t really think of Taekwoon that way either.”

“You don’t seem to hate him as much as you first did.” Hongbin said. “I guess that’s enough improvement.”

Wonsik merely quirked an eyebrow, glancing back down to his bowl. He grabbed the bowl, slurping up the rest of the broth before placing his chopsticks in the bowl, holding it out to Hongbin. The man grabbed the bowl from Wonsik, rolling his eyes.

“Thank you my dear friend and former boss.”

Hongbin groaned. “That doesn’t help you at all.”

“I’m sure it doesn’t.” Wonsik called out as Hongbin walked to the kitchen, placing the bowls and chopsticks in the kitchen sink.

“Hey so, has that Esbee kid been around the store recently?” Wonsik asked when Hongbin came back in from the kitchen.

“Who?”

“He came in to apply one time about a month or so ago.” Wonsik replied. “He mentioned wanting to be a singer.”

“Is Jellyfish holding auditions?”

“Probably.” Wonsik shrugged. “It’s not for that, though. One of my songs seems to be lacking... something. I don’t know what, but I figure a new voice might help it come together.”

“Hm.” Hongbin hummed. “To answer your question, no. I haven’t seen him around at all.”

Wonsik frowned. 

“Does he not have any SNS?” Hongbin asked.

“I couldn’t find him anywhere, no. I tried googling his name but there wasn’t anything like that.”

“I see.” Hongbin nodded. “I’ll keep an eye out around the shop and let you know if he ever comes by. Can I give him your Instagram or something so he can message you?”  
“Yeah, that’s fine.” Wonsik said. “Thank you, Hongbin.”

“Of course.” Hongbin smiled. “I need something new to play in the shop and you’re as good as anything.”

Wonsik chuckled. “I’m glad you think so.”

**Author's Note:**

> So a small note about songs I mention: I may have to change some titles here and there and may put out a longer explanation as to what songs Wonsik releases in this AU but for the most part I've been mentioning songs off of the R.ebirth mixtape. I'll let y'all know if I ever change things around tho just to avoid any other confusion! ^^;
> 
> As always, if you'd like to you are welcome to bug me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chocohaebin).


End file.
